General | 4/25/2022 12:56:13 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on April 25, 2022, for games played from April 18-April 24. It is the 32nd Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2021-22 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball, men’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
BASEBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brian Norsen St. John Fisher, Jr., 1B, Hamburg, NY/Frontier
Norsen batted .476 last week and helped lead the Cardinals to at least a share of the Empire 8 regular season title and top-seed in the upcoming league tournament after Fisher posted five wins in six games. For the week, Norsen was 10-for-21 with a double, one home run, a team-leading nine RBI and six runs scored. The first baseman slugged a team-high .667 and drew three walks. He was perfect in the field with 42 putouts against no errors.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Zach Parr, Houghton, Houghton, Sr., 1B, Olean, NY/Olean
Parr batted .417 (5-for-12 with a triple, three home runs, five runs scored and seven RBI in a four-game series versus Keuka on Friday and Saturday. Parr also was walked five times in Houghton's 2-2 week, recording a .529 on base percentage and remarkable 1.333 slugging percentage (1.862 OPS). Parr homered in three of the four games over the weekend, including a 2-for-4 showing in game two Saturday, where he scored three times and drove in a pair of runs.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Connor McHugh, St. John Fisher, Jr., P, Latham, NY/Shaker
McHugh went 2-0 on the hill for the Cardinals as Fisher clinched at least a share of the Empire 8 regular season title after posting five wins over six games last week. McHugh was nearly untouchable, allowing two hits and no runs over 10 innings of work. The left-hander finished the week with nine strikeouts and held opposing hitters to a .063 batting average. Against Russell Sage on Sunday, McHugh threw a complete-game shutout and finished with five strikeouts.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Brett Warden, Elmira, Fr., 3B, Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown
Warden hit .316 (6-for-19) on the week for Elmira and tied the program's single-season mark with his fourth triple on Saturday against Utica. He scored a run in four of six games for Elmira to go along with a .409 on-base percentage and .474 slugging percentage. It is his third E8 weekly honor of the season.
SOFTBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Allie Klonowski, St. John Fisher, Jr., OF, Buffalo, NY/Clarence
Klonowski batted .579 and helped lead the Cardinals to three wins in conference play. Over six games, Klonowski was 11-for-19 with three doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and seven runs scored. The junior slugged 1.211 on the week and owned a .652 on-base percentage (1.763 OPS) after drawing four walks. Klonowski's biggest game of the week was on Sunday as she belted two home runs in a win over Russell Sage. It is her second E8 weekly honor of the season.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mya Wells, Alfred, So., 1B, San Ramon, CA/San Ramon
Wells helped the Saxons to a 4-0 week against Empire 8 opponents as she recorded an incredible, .615 batting average, with eight hits on 13 at-bats, including a perfect, 4-for-4 in game one against Elmira College Thursday with four RBI and four runs with two doubles and a home run. Five of her eight hits during the week went for extra bases (three doubles and two home runs). Wells scored seven runs, batted in eight runs and was 3-for-4 on stolen bases on the week. Defensively, Wells was perfect at first-base with 15 putouts and two assists with no errors.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Emily Daciw, Nazareth, Jr., P, Angelica, NY/Genesee Valley
Daciw recorded two key Empire 8 wins over Russell Sage and Utica and struck out 15 batters with a 1.50 ERA in 14 innings of work. On Saturday, she struck out 10 batters in a complete-game win over Russell Sage. Daciw followed that up by allowing five hits and one earned run with five strikeouts in a 3-2 win over Utica Sunday. It is her third E8 weekly honor of the season.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joe Miga, Utica, Sr., Clinton, NY/Notre Dame
Miga was medalist of Utica’s dual match against Hamilton College over the weekend, carding a score of 152 over 36 holes at the Yahundasis Golf Club in New Hartford, NY. Miga shot a 6-over 77 during the first round and shot a 75 in the second round on Sunday.
MEN’S LACROSSE
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joe Post, St. John Fisher, Gr., F/O, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua
No one in the history of Division III men's lacrosse has scooped up more ground balls than Joe Post as he broke the Empire 8 and NCAA's all-time mark on Saturday to help lead the No. 5 Cardinals to a 22-6 win over Hartwick. Post also helped the Cardinals to defeat Alfred on Wednesday, 18-5, as the Canandaigua native went 16-20 at X with 14 ground balls. In the victory over Hartwick, Post was an incredible 25-27 at the X with 20 ground balls, helping Fisher earn its fifth-straight Empire 8 win and clinch the top-seed in the upcoming E8 Tournament.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Will York, Keuka, Gr., A, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua
York tallied a school-record and Empire 8 single-game tying record 13 total points on six goals and seven assists in his final home game on senior day against Wells Saturday. York also scored twice against Nazareth on Wednesday.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Ben Hammond, St. John Fisher, So., G, Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius
Hammond stopped 12 of 16 shots for a .750 save percentage, while earning a pair of E8 wins over Alfred and Hartwick last week. On Wednesday, Hammond made nine saves in just over 51 minutes of play in an 18-5 win over Alfred. Saturday, Hammond stopped three shots in just under 24 minutes of play, as Fisher clinched the top-seed in the upcoming E8 Tournament in a win over Hartwick. It is his fourth E8 weekly honor of the season.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sydney Carpenter, St. John Fisher, Fr., M, Rochester, NY/Hilton
Carpenter continued her strong rookie season, as she tallied 16 points over the week to help Fisher clinch at least a share of the E8 regular season title and home-field advantage for the upcoming league tournament. In a 20-1 win over Keuka on Wednesday, Carpenter tallied seven points with six ground balls and 14 draw controls. Carpenter picked up two more goals in a loss to No. 10 Ithaca on Friday before another seven point performance, including five goals and nine draw controls against Hartwick Saturday allowed the Cardinals to remain undefeated in the conference. It is her second E8 weekly honor of the season.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Emma Prosak, Nazareth, Sr., G, Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt
Prosak made 16 saves in two games last week, including 11 against nationally-ranked Cortland in a 1-1 week for the Golden Flyers to earn her second straight E8 weekly accolade.
MEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Levi Webb, Houghton, So., Houghton, NY/Fillmore
Webb had a perfect week in E8 play, going 4-0 in doubles and singles in two Highlander wins. The reigning E8 Rookie of the Year won 6-4, 6-3 in second singles and 8-3 in second doubles on Friday vs. Utica, then won 7-5, 6-1 in second singles and 8-3 in second doubles in Houghton's 8-1 win over St. John Fisher on Saturday.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Neil Peters, Alfred, Jr., Sprints, Bronx, NY/DeWitt Clinton
Peters finished second in the 100-meter dash to lead a group of four in the finals at the St. John Fisher College Cardinal Classic on Saturday. He ran an 11.06 on Saturday to claim silver in the event. The other three Saxon men who ran in the finals with Peters were also part of his 4x100-meter relay team that ran a time of 43.85 to finish third in the event.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Ka’Sean Watlington, Utica, Gr., Throws, Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint
Watlington unleashed an electrifying performance on Saturday as the Pioneers competed at the Cortland Classic. While winning the men's triple jump, Watlington put down a season-best mark of 14.72 meters. That mark was second in the nation at the time it was recorded and was fourth nationally by the end of the day Saturday. That jump also fortifies the top spot in the Empire 8 conference in the triple jump for Watlington.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Ciarra Franz, St. John Fisher, Fr., Sprints/Hurdles, Pittsford, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima
Franz won all three races she ran at the Cardinal Classic on Saturday and the Geneseo Quad Meet on Sunday. She had the best time in the 100-meter hurdle prelims on Saturday at 14.88 seconds and followed that up by breaking the St. John Fisher outdoor record on Sunday with a time of 14.66 seconds. Her time from Sunday ranks 31st in Division II1. She also ran the first leg on the record-setting 4x100 relay team on Saturday, which won the race with a new Fisher record of 48.68 seconds. The 4x100 relay time ranks in the top-50 nationally.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Veronica Duell, St. John Fisher, Fr., Jumps/Sprints, Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen
Duell won the long jump at the 2022 Cardinal Classic on Saturday with a new program record of 5.81 meters, which qualifies her for the AARTFC championships and ranks as the seventh-best long jump in the country. She also ran in the 200-meter dash, placing fourth with a personal record time of 27.73 seconds.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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